Hammy's 2005 Trip To Korea And Japan - Nov 28th

I got up before 7am to say goodbye to Keiko. I missed out on Robby's morning walk. When Yu-Jin woke up and found out that he had missed the walk he was very disappointed. Once Miky got up we, Kiyoko, Yu-Jin, Miky and I, went for another walk. This time we went around Saosaka. On the way home we wanted to say goodbye to Guchan, the pet pig, and the owner was there. We had said "Good evening," in passing last night. The pig's owner grabbed some sweet potatoes for us to feed her with. Guchan can sit and shake hands upon command.

Obviously a Japanese sign for Give Way or Yield.

Sasaoka Park sign. I wonder why it is so important to mention the area of the park? Is it for bragging rights? "My park is bigger than your park. We can afford it." Must be worth a heck a lot in rates.

Another well-tended garden. Must be too many pensioners with time on their hands in Japan.

Guchan the pet pig. Very friendly and obedient.

Some Japanese picked up during our stay:

Oidet - come here
Osuwari - sit
Ote - shake
Dame - bad
Opuro - bathroom
Owasuke - drop it

Mariko drove us to Daiei department store and even paid for Yu-Jin to play some games in the arcade section. You get a card either to play the game or afterwards. What a great way to get kids hooked on games. The Japanese are pretty smart when it comes to installing addictions in people.

Mariko then drove us to the mall next to Canal City so that Miky could collect her china and buy some more. She then dropped us off near BIC Central/Mitsukoshi (another large department store) where we headed off to Daimaru for lunch. Miky got instructions to the restaurant area and we had spaghetti dishes. Most excellent. Unfortunately we had very limited time and just caught the bus that we needed to get to Hakata Port International Terminal. We were even more lucky to have enough change to pay for the departure tax of 400 Yen/adult. Pretty much perfect timing actually.

Can't believe the onigiri (sticky rice, filling and seaweed) costs more in the supermarket than in the railway station - but they do. Delicious by the way.

Our movie on the ferry back to Korea was called "Arahan" and was a Korean fighting movie in the same vein as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Not too bad. Dialogue in Korean and subtitles in Korean. Going to Japan previously and the movie was in Japanese. I declared my seashells at customs and there weren't any problems.

We caught a ride with a crazy taxi driver [Editor's note - aren't they all?]. I don't believe that he signalled once and didn't mind pushing in or cutting corners. If somebody else tried to push in, even whilst signalling, he tailgated and tooted his horn. Arrived in one piece, dropped our bags off as Jon was home, and went out for tea. I had bibimbap. Looked through a souvenir shop and bought an award-winning doll for Sachie and Ryuji. After tea we had donuts and coffee/hot chocolate at Holly's Coffee. One of the coffees alone sells for 12000 Won (A$16!!!!!!!)

James the baby was there when we arrived. Bed at about 11pm. Miky and I made plans for the rest of the trip. Tomorrow Yu-Jin and I will go to Gyeonju and Miky wants to go to a hot bath.